Islamic dress code

It's a rare win for women's rights advocates in the country

(Newser) -
A woman detained in Saudi Arabia for wearing a miniskirt and crop top in a video that went viral has been released without charge, reports the AP . Police in Saudi Arabia had arrested the young Saudi woman for wearing "immodest clothes" after an outcry from people who say she...
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She ignited a debate on Twitter after her post

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Police in Saudi Arabia have arrested a young woman who wore a miniskirt in public and who had posted the video online, sparking an outcry from people who say she flagrantly violated the kingdom's conservative Islamic dress code. Saudi Arabia's state-run TV reported Tuesday that police in the...
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Clip 'hurt public chastity,' Tehran's top cop says

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A joyful homemade video of Pharrell Williams' "Happy" resulted in arrest and public humiliation for six young Iranians. Tehran's chief of police says the six people seen singing and dancing on the city's rooftops—including three unveiled young women—created a "vulgar clip which hurt public...
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Shaherkani will withdraw from judo match if not allowed to wear headscarf

(Newser) -
Saudi Arabia made history by sending two female athletes to the Olympics this year—but that number could drop to one if a judoka is not allowed to wear a hijab during her judo bouts. The International Judo Federation president said last week that Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani will...
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'Moral police' enforce law against 'un-Islamic' practice

(Newser) -
Iranian leaders have banned men from wearing necklaces as the latest part of a “moral security plan” against “un-Islamic” trends. Under the plan, the country is cracking down on short pants and loose headscarves on women and certain hairstyles on men. The movement is meant to fight “...
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Site launches during Pakistan's ban on social networking site

(Newser) -
The recent furor over a Facebook page that invited user drawings of Mohammed has spurred a Pakistani man to start an Islamic version of the social-networking site. He founded Millatfacebook.com after Facebook refused to pull the offending page and Pakistan temporarily banned the original site, the New York Daily ...
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Women say editor made offensive remarks

(Newser) -
Five female broadcast news anchors at al-Jazeera have walked out after complaining that they were harassed by a senior editor who complained about their make-up and their failure to cover their hair. The women—three from Lebanon, one from Syria, and one from Tunisia—say they were the targets of...
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Police stop 18 women, confiscate pants

(Newser) -
Religious police in Indonesia are cracking down on denim. During a raid yesterday,18 women caught riding motorbikes wearing headscarves and jeans were taken into custody and given long skirts to wear. Police also confiscated their pants. "I am not wearing sexy outfits, but they caught me like a...
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Sarkozy's party introduces bill to bar face-covering veils

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Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party has introduced a bill to outlaw the wearing of full-length Islamic veils in public places. Burkas and all-covering niqabs will be banned under the bill, which would fine women who fully cover their face in public, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
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Officials say head-to-toe swimwear violates hygiene rules

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A Muslim woman has been banned from a French public pool for wearing a head-to-toe "burkini" swimsuit, the BBC reports. The woman, who had purchased the suit in Dubai, called the ruling "segregation." Officials cited hygiene rules that prevent swimming clothed, and said it was not because...
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(Newser) -
A former UN worker who faces possible lashing in Sudan for wearing pants blasted flogging as an "insult" to humans that has nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with "men mistreating women," she tells the Guardian. Lubna Ahmed Hussein and 12 other women were...
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(Newser) -
France’s parliament is making noises about banning head-to-toe Islamic women’s dress such as the burka and niqab, the Times of London reports. Opponents called the the dress “a moving prison” and a “tomb," and say it's cropping up more in big cities. If the burka...
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Top prosecutor calls for ban on Western toy imports

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Barbie, Batman, and Harry Potter have no place in the Islamic Republic of Iran, says the nation's top prosecutor. He warned of the "social danger" that toys and other Western cultural imports pose to his country and has called for a ban, the BBC reports. Barbie is a big...
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Agreement alarms secular elite, which fears Islamist rule

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Turkey is expected to do away with a 2-decade-old ban on women wearing head scarves at the nation’s universities as early as next week. The prospect alarms the country’s secular elite, who see the country on a slippery slope to Islamist rule, Der Spiegel reports. “The logic...
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Constitutional reform would permit Muslim garb in universities

(Newser) -
A debate is raging in secular Turkey over the ban on headscarves that has resulted in Muslim women who don them being barred from universities since 1980. Now, PM Erdogan is considering drafting a new constitution with a less stringent dress code that has made many Turkish women hopeful—and...
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Vice police target youth whose garb is too 'Western'

(Newser) -
Iran’s vice police are back patrolling the streets of Tehran to curb outfits they deem too Western. Women are forbidden to wear body-fitting clothes or expose their hair or skin. Men are targeted for tight jeans, T-shirts and spiky haircuts. Offenders are usually put on trial, fined or jailed,...
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